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Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'
Ex Talk – Liebe live auf Sendung by Rachel Lynn Solomon
16 reviews
thatswhatshanread's review against another edition
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
This was my first Rachel Lynn Solomon book and while it did give me the break I was looking for from some of the heavier books I’ve read recently, it didn’t entirely steal my attention as much as I thought it would.
The Ex Talk has everything you expect from a novel of this genre—it pretty much follows the romcom formula to a T. In my head I was checking off this list below as each thing happened, waiting for the next, knowing it would be coming.
* Enemies-to-lovers
* Fake dating
* Forced proximity/stuck together
* Workplace romance
* One bed
* Ridiculously petite MC and ridiculously tall male lead
* Age gap
* Several pivotal work crises
* The eureka moment of clarity and self-discovery
* The romantic grand gesture
In this way, relatedly, I was never super invested in the main couple. Everything felt a little too on the ball. There was some great banter and some great spice, but overall I never really got that empathetic-butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling while reading about them. Still, they were cute.
Miscommunication does run a little rampant at times, which sort-of stunts the flow of the story near the middle-end. Of course, this is common in an enemies-to-lovers fake dating novel, and I understand the reason for the easily avoidable conflicts that arose, though it did annoy me. JUST ADMIT YOU LIKE EACH OTHER. HOW CAN YOU BE THAT OBLIVIOUS??!
Anyway. This is not to single The Ex Talk out. Many romcoms do this. I think maybe I’ve just gotten to the point where I’ve read too many books with similar plots to this one, so it’s not as exciting anymore. And maybe also I will forever compare every one of them to Beach Read and/or The Love Hypothesis. Oops.
The Ex Talk has everything you expect from a novel of this genre—it pretty much follows the romcom formula to a T. In my head I was checking off this list below as each thing happened, waiting for the next, knowing it would be coming.
* Enemies-to-lovers
* Fake dating
* Forced proximity/stuck together
* Workplace romance
* One bed
* Ridiculously petite MC and ridiculously tall male lead
* Age gap
* Several pivotal work crises
* The eureka moment of clarity and self-discovery
* The romantic grand gesture
In this way, relatedly, I was never super invested in the main couple. Everything felt a little too on the ball. There was some great banter and some great spice, but overall I never really got that empathetic-butterflies-in-your-stomach feeling while reading about them. Still, they were cute.
Miscommunication does run a little rampant at times, which sort-of stunts the flow of the story near the middle-end. Of course, this is common in an enemies-to-lovers fake dating novel, and I understand the reason for the easily avoidable conflicts that arose, though it did annoy me. JUST ADMIT YOU LIKE EACH OTHER. HOW CAN YOU BE THAT OBLIVIOUS??!
Anyway. This is not to single The Ex Talk out. Many romcoms do this. I think maybe I’ve just gotten to the point where I’ve read too many books with similar plots to this one, so it’s not as exciting anymore. And maybe also I will forever compare every one of them to Beach Read and/or The Love Hypothesis. Oops.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Grief, and Death of parent
Moderate: Cancer and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Vomit
0701mango's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
The characters were super lovable in my opinion, but the plot got a little annoying at some parts and a little over dramatic at other parts for me. That’s personal preference though. I recommend it! It’s satisfying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, and Death of parent
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders and Xenophobia
rynicolereads's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Ex Talk is my ideal romance novel. I really liked the main characters and appreciated that they broke the mold as far as typical romance novels go. Shay is older, very independent, and more experienced and Dominic is fresh out of school and has less experience in his career and his personal life. But most of all, I loved the dialogue between them! It felt refreshingly real and fun and really added to the dynamic between Shay and Dominic.
It was also really nice for me to read a book about a Jewish character that didn’t revolve around any Jewish-related trauma. As a Jewish person, it’s easy to get lost in the sea of World War II novels so it was fun to read something that was both modern and relatable. Plus, it was all about radio! I work for an audio-related tech company that was purchased by iHeartMedia (aka iHeartRadio) a couple of years ago and it was so fun to read something that takes place in the same world.
You might like The Ex Talk if you like:
+ books like Beach Read
+ open door romances
+ fake dating or forced proximity tropes
+ diverse characters
It was also really nice for me to read a book about a Jewish character that didn’t revolve around any Jewish-related trauma. As a Jewish person, it’s easy to get lost in the sea of World War II novels so it was fun to read something that was both modern and relatable. Plus, it was all about radio! I work for an audio-related tech company that was purchased by iHeartMedia (aka iHeartRadio) a couple of years ago and it was so fun to read something that takes place in the same world.
You might like The Ex Talk if you like:
+ books like Beach Read
+ open door romances
+ fake dating or forced proximity tropes
+ diverse characters
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism
Moderate: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Grief, and Death of parent
lisacanteven's review against another edition
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I LOVE THIS BOOK! It was everything I needed and more. I was expecting to like it, but not this much. The writing was so easy to feel immersed in and binge. I love the witty banter between characters. I also love all of the real pop culture references. I appreciate that the author referred to real people and real podcasts. I now have many more that I want to look into. I wish the main characters were real because I would listen to their podcast all the time. I will definitely be reading all of her books.
I tend to like romances with dual POVs but I thought Rachel did a great job with the singular POV. I really liked feeling like I was in Shay's head the whole time because I just want to be her friend. Dominic reminded me a lot of my husband. I feel like he could definitely be an enneagram 5. This book was the perfect mixture of strong plot, witty banter, and steamy romance.
I tend to like romances with dual POVs but I thought Rachel did a great job with the singular POV. I really liked feeling like I was in Shay's head the whole time because I just want to be her friend. Dominic reminded me a lot of my husband. I feel like he could definitely be an enneagram 5. This book was the perfect mixture of strong plot, witty banter, and steamy romance.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Sexual content, and Death of parent
kerrygetsliterary's review against another edition
emotional
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing and Sexual content
Moderate: Cursing, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Grief, and Death of parent
Minor: Cancer and Medical content
co_reads's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I loved The Ex Talk by Rachel Lynn Solomon! First, the plot setup is fantastic - two employees at a Seattle public radio station agree to their boss's dubious plan to pretend to have dated in order to host a radio show/podcast about breaking up and what comes after. However, these two never actually dated. Of course, once they start to spend time together, they do decide they like each other, begin dating, and things only grow more complicated from there.
As a frequent NPR listener, I really enjoyed all of the little name drops and references that made it clear that the author and her protagonist loved NPR as much as I do (probably more than I do, to be honest). I thought that the relationship between the two main characters was believable and well-constructed and I loved the other side conflicts/plots that arose that were tackled throughout the book. This book was also just outright funny which is always a bonus!
This is a great book and I can already tell it will be on top of my end of year lists!
As a frequent NPR listener, I really enjoyed all of the little name drops and references that made it clear that the author and her protagonist loved NPR as much as I do (probably more than I do, to be honest). I thought that the relationship between the two main characters was believable and well-constructed and I loved the other side conflicts/plots that arose that were tackled throughout the book. This book was also just outright funny which is always a bonus!
This is a great book and I can already tell it will be on top of my end of year lists!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent
Moderate: Misogyny and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cancer and Racism
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